Dean Janssen, a former Franklin High basketball coach who retired from the sidelines in 1981, saw firsthand what happens when a handful of coaches from one part of the Sac-Joaquin Section joins a handful of coaches from other areas to hash out playoff brackets.

Debates became arguments; arguments became shouting matches. Comparing teams from different regions with no common opponents can be a futile exercise, so Janssen did something about it.

In January 1987, removed from coaching but still watching at least two games a week, Janssen developed and presented a power-ratings system to former section commissioner Clarke Coover. The idea was to adopt a system in which a team's results - both in nonleague and league games - are put into a formula to produce a seeding. League games account for 70 percent of the rating, nonleague games 30 percent.

The final rating would then determine which teams make the postseason and where each playoff team is seeded.

As a working example, Janssen - a self-described workaholic and spread sheet nut - seeded the boys and girls tournaments for the 1986-87 playoffs. His plan, however, was not welcomed with open arms and not used for that postseason.

"They didn't like it," Janssen said. "They were all of the opinion, 'No, we don't want to look at numbers. We're going to go by what we saw.' Clarke didn't really like that idea, so he told me later that spring, 'We're going to do the same thing next year, but we're going to abide by it.'

"Clarke told everyone at the seeding meeting (in February 1988), 'We're going to make a few changes based on traveling distance, but other than that, this is it,' " and presented to them the postseason pairings.

That system, save for a few adjustments, still determines who moves on to the playoffs and who moves on to the spring sports calendar. On Wednesday, the section office released this year's 12 section playoff brackets (six boys, six girls) certain that - like every other year - some teams will complain they should have qualified but didn't, and others will argue they should have been seeded higher.

But they can't blame politics.

"Our board has always been of the belief, and this predates me and hopefully postdates me, we are not going to have a committee that sits in a room and says, 'You're in; you're out.' There is going to be some formula," current commissioner Pete Saco said.

The process is not black and white and does leave section officials with some wiggle room. In January of every year, between tournament season and the start of league play, representatives from each league get together. Each league has 10 minutes for a presentation and each league is assigned a strength value, which is a crucial ingredient of the power-ratings formula.

The ratings can also be adjusted through a gross-injustice clause. Janssen recalls one particular year Carmichael-Jesuit was ranked No. 4 in the country but was only No. 3 in the power ratings because of a low league rating.

Other adjustments can be made to save schools long bus trips and to prevent league opponents from meeting in the first round. This year, another clause was added to include every section team with 15 or more wins. While each bracket is set up for 16 teams, outbracket games have been added for the lowest seeds in each division. Those games begin Friday.

While the power-ratings system has been at times controversial, Saco said Janssen's contributions have been immeasurable.

"What Dean has done for us, you can't put a value on that," he said. "He's gone beyond the call of duty for our section. He loves what he does, and it's given us a very sound basis for where we've moved as a section."